No Place Like....?

"There's no place like home!" says Dorothy Gayle in the "Wizard of Oz." Of course, most of us would agree. But I would also add that there's no place more engaging and invigorating than my place of work.

Yes, I worked at the plant today, and it made me very, VERY happy. There's a buzzing excitement everywhere you turn. We're making amazing, awesome products, and we're proud of them! The business is running incredibly well, and we're even more proud of that. We work hard, but we have fun because we have a business culture that makes it easy to voice opinions, share concepts and ideas, and not be afraid of being shot down.

It's funny because my doctors say people in my situation go on disability, or retire or just generally stop working. They find it amazing that I am fighting so hard to keep working. But how could I give up something that makes me so happy; something that buoys my spirit and invigorates me? Something that makes me feel productive! Something that challenges my brain and makes me feel alive.

Yeah, so I'm pretty giddy at the moment. I really needed to go to work today, and get charged up after yesterday's debacle. I took my scooter, and the ride over to Medical, at 6ish in the morning, was beautiful. Sunrise in the desert is a gift of nature. The colors were spectacular and the boat-tailed grackles were in full-on courtship mode, the male fluffing himself up and strutting about in front of his enamored female audience.

Of course, now that I have spent all day at work, I am exhausted. All that excitement, while enjoyable and wonderful, just wears me out. Tomorrow I'll telecommute and rest up. I'm one happy, lucky woman.

Live long and prosper, all! :)

Pet Scan Number Two.... Strike Two

UGH!  So, I have no idea what the heck happened today.  I got up, checked my glucose, which was 136.. not great, but nowhere NEAR 200, so I'm thinking we're in like Flynn.  


Alas, I get to Ironwood, and the tech takes my reading and we both gasp.  His meter reads 212.  WHAT THE ... FLOCK?  He says, we'll wait five minutes, and then test your other hand because... things happen.  I drink water and read my book.


Second reading, 220.  Is the stress of this whole situation making my glucose rise, because let me tell you, this whole enterprise is making me crazy:  it's demoralizing and frustrating as hell.  I have watched my glucose obsessively.  It's been fantastic since I got off the prednisone!  One last try, the tech says... we'll wait 15 minutes.


Third reading, 215... sorry, no scan for you today.  Ok, now I am so upset.  I make my sister drive me to Walgreens where I buy a new glucose meter.  I get home, prime it, and take a reading... 150.  Again, WTF?  So, I get out my regular meter, and test again.... 148.  This is driving me mad.  I don't know what to do!  My meters are fine; I use the control solution to check 'em out.  My test strips don't expire until 2012, so they are fine.  Apparently, my blood does not want another PET Scan.  But, I do, and so... we'll wait a week and try again.  And try again if that fails and if it does... then we'll keep trying.  


If I were laissez faire about compliance, then I would understand, but I am not.  (Insert very tired sigh here.)


But tomorrow, I am going in to the plant to work!  We've got my scooter all charged up and ready to hit the road.  I've got my Chevy guy working on getting me a class three hitch so that Mobility Center can install a lift for my scooter and then... the world is my oyster!  I'll be able to go anywhere BY MYSELF!  Muahahahahah.  But tomorrow, Nancy and Jane are driving me to work so that they can get the scooter out of my car for me.  Then they'll come get me after work.  Hopefully, this will be the only time they have to do this.


Must remember that I am supposed to report to Medical before I can actually go do some work.  I will show them that I am, once again... STRONG LIKE BULL!

Pet Scan Number Two, take Two...

The redo on the PET scan is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:00.  My glucose has been stellar since I've been off the steroids, so I do not see any problems.  However, I didn't anticipate anything the last time, so I will be testing before I head out to Ironwood C&RC.  


I'm not having any major anxiety about the scan, since the last one seemed to be no problem.  But, the last PET was done at another facility.  However, Ironwood always seems to have top-notch equipment, so I'd guess the one tomorrow will be even better than the last one.  Yeah, that's what I'm going with on the anticipation front.  And yet, I shall still be packing the Xanax, just as a bit of insurance against a random anxiety attack.


I was warned not to wear an underwire bra for this scan.  HAH!  Those evil slings of torture?  No underwire has gotten near my 'girls' in years, and never shall again.  No, my 'girls' are quite happy with cotton; they need no trussing up in what amounts to barbed wire!  (Well, after being worn for more than an hour or so, it starts to FEEL like barbed wire, anyway.)

This handsome devil to the right is my Orange Wing Amazon Parrot, Vinnie the Vampire.  He's 15 years old, and is the sweetest thing on earth.  In the old days, before my lungs went to hell, I used to do minimal parrot rescue.  Vinnie wasn't exactly a rescue, but he wasn't a tamed bird, either.  We both had to overcome fear of each other, and now, we're great friends.  He was just under a year when he came to me, and enjoyed drawing blood, hence the "Vampire" sobriquet.


Not sure why I decided to talk about Vinnie today, but I love this picture of him, out in my back garden, and thought I'd share.


Take care, all.  Send me some good juju for tomorrow's scan.  HUGS!

It was Time

So, how do you like the new look of my blog?  I just thought, since it was Spring, and all, it might be time to freshen up around here.  It's good to change up the colors every once in a while, don't you think?


That's it... just had to make a change.  Love to all


Edit:  that title image is one I painted using ArtRage and metallic inks.

Spring!

My sisters have headed off to Home Depot to begin our Spring ritual of seed procurement.  We have two 6'x11' planter beds for our vegetable garden.  In the past, we've grown several types of chili peppers, squashes, carrots, radishes and peas.


We have no luck with tomatoes, unfortunately.  I could tell you our Topsy Turvy tomato horror story, but I'll spare you that.  Suffice to say, the human injuries were non-life-threatening.  Sadly, though, all the tomato plants perished.


So, I am excited to find out which seeds will be coming home with my sisters.  It's early enough that the selection should be wide open.  And somehow, it's just more spiritual to consume something you have nurtured from soil you've enriched, and pampered and frankly, loved.  Of course, we use no pesticides.  We like to get lady bugs and let them have a feast.  Then again, I'm happy to share with native bugs, as long as they leave me plenty of veggies in the end.


Last night, we had chicken vegetable soup with Orzo.  We had asparagus, red peppers, spring onions, baby portabellas, and green and yellow squashes and a poblano.  We're so lucky that the variety of available vegetables is just wonderful here in Arizona.


For dinner tonight, we're just going to grill up a steak and have salads.  Obviously, I'm trying hard to keep my nutrition levels up, so that I can be strong enough to weather my treatments and any complications that will arise.


Life is amazing; give someone you love a HUGE hug today.

A Promise is a Promise..

...and so I give you a picture of my sister, Wendy, in her Nursing School's clinicals uniform.  I can't tell you how proud I am of her; she inspires me every day.  I know that any time I need to talk about anything she's there with her Sepulveda ears (which are nicely hidden in the picture above) ready to give encouragement or anything else I need.


I had my follow up with Dr. Ramaswamy today, and we talked about my mortality, and not in a frightening way, nor in a Pollyanna manner, either.  I told him I had gotten way past the 'oh, I'm dying' part and happily into, the 'Yay, I'm living' attitude.  That's not to say I'm not mindful of how things will progress, and I have made all the necessary arrangements, as I've said before.  So, I may be ready, but I'm not READY, if you get my drift.  I feel strong!  I feel invincible... today. ;)


Now I am looking forward to what should be a really wonderful weekend, weather-wise.  I may have to go get some sun... I can use the vitamin D and gods know I could use some color.  Maybe I'll take a short walk and see how that goes.  I just want to be up and moving.  


Ok, so there you have it; my sister's picture, and doesn't she look fabulous?  I love you, Wendy, and thank you Dean for taking the picture.  I love you, too. :)


Live long and prosper, all.

Greetings from Ironwood!

Jane and I have arrived at Ironwood Cancer and Research Center, and we are waiting for my oncology nurse to come by and begin the Benadryl before we hit the Herceptin.  It seems pretty quiet in here today.  But there is a group over here in the corner... one guy getting the chemo and an entourage of twenty-somethings providing encouragement. :)

It's an absolutely beautiful day today.  There is a cool breeze, and the car said it was 69 outside.  Lots of sunshine, although, there are supposed to be clouds coming in again.  We looked, but we don't see any.

So, I got in five and a half hours of work before we had to leave to come here, so I need to do two and a half more when I get home.  I'm so lucky that I can be flexible like this.

Wendy is doing clinicals at nursing school, now, and Kent's school of nursing has their own uniforms that the students must wear.  The problem is that Wendy's so tiny, it was hard for her to get uniform items that fit.  But supposedly, she now has pants that do fit.  So, Deano, I need a picture!  You give me a nice picture of Nurse Wendy in her fitting uniform, and I'll post it here on the blog.  Deal?

Still haven't seen a nurse yet.  But I'm sure one is on the way.  The meds have to come from the pharmacy, and the Herceptin has to be mixed, so that takes some time.  I'll post more later, but that's it for this post.

Love to all!